Apparatus for vacuum thermoforming



Nov. 3, 1959 A. G. ROWE, JR 2,910,728

APPARATUS FOR VACUUM THERMOFORMING Filed June 25, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 EigJ INVENTOR ARTHUR G. ROWE JR.

ATTORNEY Nov. 3, 1959 A. G. ROWE, JR

APPARATUS FOR VACUUM THERMOFORMING 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 25, 1957 0 l M R R E P On A E T E M M U A N D m M H S P. E D w S a O vwlz 5 r E I 0 1 A. nU ET HDI AAR T R M CL U T! M E A l A M D G N H II P IL E E D R F. E v v 0 R B U A C l\ PLUG NOSE DIAN. AS OF BOTTOM [NAN-35% PLUG NOSE AREA AS OF BOTTOM AREA 12% DRAW DOWN RATIO DEPTH DIAN. RATIO INVENTOR ARTHUR G. ROWE JR.

ATTORNEY 2,910,728 Patented Nov. 3, 1959 APPARATUS FOR VACUUM THERMOFORMING Arthur George Rowe, Jr., Wilmington, Del., assignor to E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Wilmington,

Del., a corporation of Delaware Application June 25, 1957, Serial No. 667,893 3 Claims. (Cl. 18-19 This invention is concerned with an apparatus for vacuum thermoforrning of generally concave, hollow articles from thermoplastic resin sheets. More particularly, it is concerned with an apparatus for plug-assist vacuum thermoforming of deep-drawn shapes which ap-' stiffness and rigidity.

Vacuum thermoforrning whereby generally concave, hollow articles are formed from sheets of thermoplastic resin is well known to the art of plastics fabrication. It offers an economical and rapid method for fabricating plastic articles from sheets without the use of the high pressures and temperatures required for injection molding. The general procedure followed in vacuum thermoforming processes is to clamp a sheet of thermoplastic resin in a frame, soften it by heating, conveniently by means of radiant heat, remove the heat source, press the softened sheet tightly over the surface of a warm die having one or more hollowed-out cavities in the shape of the desired articles, and to draw the sheet down onto the die surfaces by evacuation of the air trapped between sheet and die by drawing the air out through a number of small ports or pores in the die surface which lead to an internal hollow core which is connected to a vacuum source; finally, the thermoplastic resin is set in the shape of the die by cooling which is accomplished by heat transfer from the hot resin to the warm die on the convex side of the article and to atmosphere on the concave side.

The process of thermoforming as described above has been modified, as is Well known to the art, where it is necessary to draw the thermoplastic sheet into deep cavities, particularly those in which the depth-to-base diameter ratios are greater than about 1/2. In such cases the operation of the unmodified process of vacuum thermoforming results in articles with very thin bottoms and thin lower walls due to greater stretching of the softened thermoplastic sheet in these areas. Therefore, the method known as plug-assist thermoforming was developed.

The initial steps in this process are the same as for the original vacuum-forming process. However, before applying the vacuum to draw the thermoplastic sheet down against the concave die surfaces, a tapered, blunt-nosed plug is employed to push the sheet from 60% to 95% of the way down into the die, then vacuum is applied through pores in the die surface to pull the sheet off the plug and down against the die surfaces. This process has been .used commercially for vacuum thermoforming of. polystyrene sheet and acrylic sheet. The motion of the plug provides a mechanical stretching action. The

2 solely for mechanical stretching) is applied to a sheet of certain other types of resin, such as polyethylene resin, the results are unsatisfactory. Many resins, including polyethylene, when softened by heat, do not slip easily over the plug surfaces. As a result, the portion of the sheet which is to form the walls of the articles is drawn down thin while the portion of the sheet on the bottom of the plug remains at or near its original thickness. Then when the vacuum is applied and the thermoplastic sheet is pulled away from the plug and stretched down upon the concave die surface, further drawing of the thinned walls, particularly near the bottom, occurs while the thick section of resin from the bottom of the plug resists drawing and thus forms a thick section in the middle of the bottom of the. fabricated article. Thus the final article is thinnest and weakest along the corner line where the walls and bottom join. This effect is most pronounced with resins such as polyethylene but may also be observed in certain shapes formed from resins. such as polystyrene. For most purposesv such articles are quite unsatisfactory. As a result, it has not in the past been thought practical to fabricate sheets of polyethylene or many other resins by vacuum thermoforrning to deep-drawn shapes and the variety of shapes has been somewhat restricted where other resins, such as polystyrene, are employed.

Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide an apparatus whereby thermoplastic resins in the form of sheets can be vacuum thermoforrned by deep drawing to give fabricated articles having walls and bottoms of substantially uniform thickness. It is another object of this invention to provide an apparatus for plug-assist vacuum thermoforming in which the portion of the thermoplastic sheetwhich is to form the bottom of the fabricated article is predrawn, before application of the vacuum, to substantially the same extent as the portion of the thermoplastic sheet which is to form the sides of the fabricated article is predrawn by the action of an assist-plug in pushing the sheet into the forming cavity. It is another object of this invention to describe assistplugsfor use in vacuum thermoforming of deep-drawn articles from thermoplastic sheets of resins such as polyethylene whereby fabricated articles having walls and but toms of substantially uniform thickness may be obtained. Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings.

.Figurel is a diagrammatic, cross-sectional view of a concave vacuum die 1 which is used in conjunction with a standard, tapered, blunt-nosed assist-plug 2, to form a deep-drawn article from a thermoplastic sheet.

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of a concave vacuum die 1 identical with die 1 of Figure l, but with an assistplug 7, embodying the general features of a novel plug suitable for carrying out the process of this invention.

Figure 3 shows in more detail the design of one modification of the apparatus suitable for use in the vacuumforming process of this invention.

Figures 4A, B, C, and D show containers having a depth-to-bottom diameter ratio greater than 1/2 such as may be fabricated from a thermoplastic resin by the use of this invention. t

Figure 5 shows another modification of the apparatus suitable for use in the vacuum forming process of this invention.

Figure 6 shows the graph of a curve relating minimum wall taper to depth-to-base diameter ratio as described hereinbelow.

In its broadest aspect, this invention comprises a process for deep-draw, vacuum thermoforming of generally concave shapes from sheets of a thermoplastic resin which sheets have been softened by heating to a of a die cavity with walls of less than 7 taper, is determined by reference to the curve relating depth-to-base diameter ratio to minimum taper shown in Figure 6 and, for the case of a die cavity with walls having a taper between 7 and 45, is a maximum of 20, the surface of said die-cavity being provided with a number of small ports leading from the forming surface of said die to an interior hollow core which can be evacuated to draw the air from the forming die cavity and to draw the plastic sheet down against the surfaces of said'concave die, and which process employs means for pulling the plastic sheet tightly against the top surface of the die to form a seal around the outside of the concave opening, and which process employs a means for pushing the softened sheet of thermoplastic resin into the concave forming die cavity whereby the thermoplastic sheet-is predrawn, before final forming in the region which will form the sides of the fabricated article, the improvement which comprises simultaneously predrawing to a like extent the sides and the base of the article undergoing fabrication, said predrawing of the base being accomplished by differential air pressure. It should be understood that by base diameter is meant the maximum linear dimension through the center of the base, whether or not the base is circular;

A more particular aspect of this invention comprises a process for deep-draw, vacuum thermoforming of generally hollow shapes (in which the area of the base portion is not greater than the area of the open top) from sheets of a thermoplastic resin, which sheets have been softened by heating to a temperature between the softening point of the thermoplastic resin and a temperature 100 F. above said softening point, which process employs a forming die comprising a cavity with sides which are tapered between and 45 to the vertical axis of said cavity, and said cavity having a depth-to-base diameter ratio between 1/2 and a maximum which, for the ports leading from the forming surface of said die to an interior core which can be evacuated to draw the air from the forming die cavity and to draw the plastic sheet down against the surfaces of said concave die, and which process employs means for pulling the plastic sheet tightly against the top surface of the die to form a seal around the outside of the cavity, and which process employs a generally convex, tapered assist-plug comprising a cross-section of a shape similar to the cross-sectional shape of the aforesaid cavity in the forming die and a taper of from 1 to 30 greater than the aforesaid taper of the forming die cavity to push the sheet of ther- 1 moplastic resin down into the forming die cavity before the application of vacuum to the ports in the surface of said forming die, the improvement which comprises employing a tapered assist-plug in which the lower, smaller end has a diameter from 35% to 75% of the diameter of the base of the cavity in the forming die, and said smaller end of said plug is hollowed out to provide a depression with an internal, concave, surface inside the nose of the plug withia small port at the apex of said internal concave surface which port leads to a region of lower air pressure, said internal concave surface having an area between 40% and 100% of the area of the base of the aforesaid cavity in the forming die, and said internal concave surface circumscribing at its base at the smaller end of the plug an area, parallel to the base of the aforesaid cavity in the forming die, of from 12% to 45% of the area of said base of the forming die cavity, and said plug having a diameter at its upper end of from 50% to 98% of the diameter of the top of the forming die cavity, whereby the portion of the thermoplastic sheet which is to form the base of the fabricated article is predrawn by being forced into the plug depression by the force of the differential air pressure created by the action of the descending plug in compressing the air inside the concave forming die, before application of vacuum to the ports in the surface of the aforesaid forming die, to approximately the same extent as the portion of the thermoplastic resin which is to form the sides of the fabricated shape is predrawn by the descending mm tion of said plug in pushing the thermoplastic sheet from 60% to of the way down into the cavity of the forming die, with the result that, after application of vacuum to the pores of the aforesaid forming die, the walls and the base of said fabricated article are drawn down to substantially equal and uniform thickness.

Alternatively, the process of this invention may be carried out, as indicated in Figure 5, by supplying compressed air through a small port in the center of the nose of an assist-plug as the plug pushes the softened, thermoplastic sheet into the die cavity; in this way the portion of the thermoplastic sheet on the bottom of the plug is predrawnby differential air pressure which causes said portion of sheet to expand out into the bottom of the forming die cavity at the same time that the sheet on the walls is drawn by the motion of the plug in pushing the sheet into the die cavity. The forming is then completed by the application of vacuum to the core inside the bottom of the forming die whereby air is withdrawn through the small ports leading from the core to the bottom of the forming surface as has been described hereinabove.

In the process, as shown in Figure 5 for one particular example, the forming die 40 has a round cavity with a depth-to-diameter ratio of 2 (Z-inch diameter, 4 inches deep) and with walls having a 0 taper. Inside the bottom of the forming die there is a hollowed-out core 41 which can be evacuated by a vacuum pump (not shown) connected to a tube 44 leading to thecore. A circle of small ports 42 around the bottom corner of the forming surface and another port 43 in the center of the forming surface lead to the hollow core. A round, tapered assist-plug 45, which is connected by a rod 46, to means for raising and lowering it. The dimensions and taper of the assist-plug are controlled by the limitations already given hereinabove. While the taper of the assist-plug must be from 1 to 30 greater than the taper of the walls of the forming die cavity in this case it has a taper of 6; the lower end of the assist-plug has a diameter from 35% to 75% of the diameter of the forming die; in this example the diameter is 50%. However, while a plug with a concave depression in its nose, as described hereabove, may be employed, it is not essential in this method of carrying out the invention since compressed air is fed through a boring 47 and'a small port 48 in the assist-plug to produce a convex instead of a concave bubble in the thermoplastic sheet. Therefore, the nose of the assist-plug may, in this case, be slightly convex as shown in Figure 5, where the bottom has a radius of curvature of 4 inches.

In carrying out the process of the invention using this method, the steps are similar to those already described above. The thermoplastic sheet 51, which in this case is 60 mil thick polyethylene, is clamped to a frame, by means of pressurized bars 50. The sheet is softened by heating about 30 above its softening point then positioned over the die and pushed down around the top surface of the die, as indicated by the relative positions indicated by Figure the resin sheet has been predrawn on both the sides and the bottom of the plug but it has not been formed into the desired shape. This forming is accomplished in the next step of the cycle when vacuum is applied to the pores 42, 43 of the forming die. The cycle is completed as described below in another example. While this method of carrying out the process of the invention is not the generally preferred method, it is most useful particularly for vacuum-thermoforming shapes such as'shown in Figure 4-D where the depthto diameter ratio is near 2 and the wall taper is near 0.

The. general features of the first-describedaspect of this invention will be more fully explained by reference to Figures 1 and 2. In Figure l, which is representative of the equipment employed in prior artprocesses of deep-draw, plug-assist vacuum thermoforming 1 is the concave forming die, 2 is the tapered, blunt-nosed assistplug, 3 is a hollow chamber inside the forming die which chamber can be rapidly evacuated by a vacuum pump (not shown), 4 and 5 are small ports, representative of a circle of ports at the bottom corner of the die, leading fromthe chamber 3 to the forming surface of the die, and 6 is the slightly rounded, blunt nose of the plug which has a diameter of from 75% to 95% of the diameter of the bottom of the forming die 1. When apparatus of this general description is employed to form a sheet of polyethylene into a hollow article, the action of the descending plug draws down the portion of the polyethylene which will form the walls of the article while the polyethylene on the bottom of the plug remains undrawn and thick because the hot polyethylene will not slipover the corners of the end of the plug. When vacuum is substantially applied to pull the sheet down against the forming di'e,-the drawn, thin section is drawn still more while the thick area of resin from the bottom 6 of plug 2 resists drawing and remains as a thick disc of resin in the middle of the bottom of the shaped article. As a result, the fabricated article has walls decreasing in thickness from top to bottom and is very thin and weak along the corner line joiningthe walls to'the bottom. Obviously, this represents a very uneconomical use of the thermoplastic resin and generally results in an unsatisfactory fabricated article.

In Figure .2, which is representative of the apparatus employed in the generally-preferred method carrying out the process of this invention, the concave forming die 1 is the same die shown in Figure 1 with the same provisions for applying vacuum from chamber 3 through a circle of pores represented by 4 and 5. However,the

assist-plug 7 is of :novel design, incorporating a number of features which, in combination, provide novel apparatus suitable for carrying out the fabricating process of this invention. Referring to the plug 7 of Figure 2, 8 is a hollow boring in the plug which, at its upper end leads to a region of lower pressure which, in the operation of the process, may be either atmospheric pressure or a vacuum, and, at its lower end, is connected by a small port 9 into the apex of a hollowed-out cavity inside the end of the plug. This hollowed-out, concave surface is constructed with a surface area of from 50% to 100% of the-area of the bottom,'45, of the concaveforming die. Furthermore, the plug 7 is constructed with a sharper taper than the plug 2 of Figure 1 so that.

the volume of thermoplastic sheet encompassed by the bottom of the "plug between points 11 and 1 2 is equal i also, has an overall height of 4 .inches.

'tween points 24' and 25, is 1 inches.

. 6 thickness of the bottoms is approximately equal to the thickness of the walls. The sides 13 of plug 7 are tapered, either. by a straight or a parabolic curvature. The diameter of the plug is such that when the plug reaches its position of maximum penetration into the die 1, the distance between the walls 13of the' plug, and the edges 14 of the die at the top of the die is from two to ten times the thickness of the thermoplastic sheet used. The taper of the walls 13 of the plug 7 will be greater by from about 1 to 30 than the taper of the walls 14 of the concave forming die 1, which taper will make an angle between 0 and 45 with the vertical. While the tapered walls of the plug 13 may be straightline, it is preferable to construct them with a parabolic curvature near the bottom of the plug as shown in Figure 2. The annular surface 11 and 12, joining the internal concave surface 10 with the external tapered surface 13, may be constructed with a radius of curvature of from inch to /2 inch, depending upon the amount of resin it is desired to deposit along the corner joining the walls and bottom of the shaped article. The portion of the thermoplastic sheet contacted by the annular surface 11, 12 may'not be drawn down, either by the descending motion of the plug or by the subsequent vacuum-drawing as much as the rest of the sheet so it may, if desired, provide a region of strength at the bottom corner of the drawn, shaped article.

The process of this invention will be further illustrated by a specific. example, the vacuum thermoforming from polyethylene sheet of round containers, illustrated by Figure 4-A, using the forming die and novel assist-plug illustrated in Figure 3.

As illustrated by Figure 4-A, which shows the fabricated container, the vertical depth of the container 35 is 4 inches, the diameter of the bottom 36 is 3 inches, and the diameter atfthe top of the container 37 is, 3 /2 inches (all dimensions are outside); thus the walls of the container are tapered to make a 4 angle with the vertical axis of the container. The bottom corner of the container 38 has a A inch radius of curvature; /8 inch from the top of the container there is a .notch 39 to hold a snap-on lid. v

The construction of the vacuum-forming die and novel assist-plug are illustrated diagrammatically in Figure 3 which shows the novel plug 18 at the point of maximum descent into the die 17. This figure illustrates the point in time during the forming cycle when the. thermoplastic sheet 32 has been pushed into the forming die, but just before the application of vacuum 'to draw the sheet down onto the forming surface of the die. The forming surface of the die 17 has the same dimensions as the outside dimensions of the container shown in Figure 4-A. The

die, which may be constructed of aluminum, has corings 19 cut out inside to which vacuum can be applied. A

circle of small ports, indicated by .20 and .21,.lead from l is the provision for heating the forming die, which is 60 maintained at a temperature from 20 to F. below the softening temperature of the resin. 1

The plug 18, which may be constructed of aluminum its diameter at the top is 3% inches while at the bottom, itsdiameter, be-

In the bottom of the plug acavity in the shape of a cone is hollowed out having a vertical height of 1.254 inches-between the bottom 24, 25 of the plug and the apex 26 of the hollowed-out cone. The sides of :the cone make an angl 0f125 with the vertical. Thediameter of the hollowed-out conical depression1is 1.42.. inches at its base. The area'of the conical surface is approximately 3.2 square inches which is 45% of the area (7.1 sq. inches) of the bottom of the "forming "die. At the apex 26 of the concave conical surface, a small opening leads "to a drilled-cut passage 27 leading to the atmosphere. A vertical post 28 having a diameter of 1 inch leads from the center of the top of theplug to amechanism, not shown, for raising and lowering said. plug. Means 29 are provided for heating -the plug and maintaining itat. any desired temperature thermoplastic sheet is then transported back away from the heat and positioned over the die 17; then the die is raised up against the softened sheet, or the frame is lowered down around the outside of the top surface of the .die, thus forming a seal between the resin sheet and the outside top corner of the. die, as indicated by the relative positions of die 17 and frame 34 in Figure 3. The heated plug 18 is then pushed down from 60% to 95% of the way into the forming die until it reaches a position such as indicated in Figure 3; this compresses the air inside the die between the sheet and the surface of the forming die. This compression of the air produces a diiferential air pressure which forces the plastic sheet 32 up into the cavity 35 in the bottom of the plug since pressure there is relieved to the atmosphere; thus by the action of the diiferential air pressure, this portion of the sheet is drawn to substantially the same extent as that on the outer walls of the plug. At this point in the cycle, the condition indicated by Figure 3 is reached. Next vacuum is applied at 19 and the air compressed between the plastic sheet and the surfaceof the forming die is drawn out through the two circles of ports 20-21 and 2223; a vacuum then is formed in the region between the sheet and the die whereby the thermoplastic sheet is drawn away from the plug and forced down upon the surfaces of the conillustrated by the data of Table .TABLE I I Vacuum-forming of polyethylene sheets Runs Units Polyethylene Resin Used Distance of plug from bottom Penetration, into Cavity,

percent of Total Thickness Measurements: Center of Bottom Upper SidewalL Ratio: Center of Bottom} Corner Ratio: Center of Bottom] Av.Wa1l

mil/mil Two kinds of polyethylene were employed in these experiments: Resin A having a 0.930 density, a 3.0 melt index, and a MTV/1H ratio less than (where m:

weight average molecular weight and 2T47z=number average molecular weight); and resin B having 0.914 density,

a 1.8 melt index, and a M w/ Mn ratio of about 40. The novel assist-plug described above -is called Plug II in Table I. For comparison, a standard plug suitable for forming polystyrene was employed; this plug, which was designed according to Figure 1, had a height of 4 inches, a diameter at the top of 3 inches, and was tapered to a diameter of 2 /2 inches at the bottom; sides and bottom were joined by a corner of inch radius of curvature. For these experiments the forming die and'assist plug were mounted on a 24-inch by 24-inch plug-assist forming unit of the type manufactured by Brown Machine 00., although any similar forming unit may be employed without altering the results.

The superior results obtained with this process employing this novel assist-plug may be readily seen from examination of Table I. Thus with resin A, using a standard assist-plug in run I, the ratio of the thickness of the center of the bottom of the fabricated container to the thickness of the corner was 2.22; by comparison in run II, using a plug II, constructed as described above, this ratio was 1.15. For the same two runs, the ratios of the thicknessv of the bottom to the wall thickness was 1.67 and 0.77, respectively. Similar results were achieved with resin B in runs III and IV. In every case using the novel plug 11 these ratios arel.0i0.3 while with the standard prior art plug I, these ratios are 2.0:03. Thus the containers fabricated according to the process of this invention have relatively uniform wall thickness over the sides and bottom in marked contrast with the unsatisfactory containers fabricated by prior art processes employing a standard assist-plug.

Other articles which are representative of some of the shapes which can be fabricated by the process of this invention are indicated in Figures 4-B, 4-C, and 4-D, thus C is representative of rectilinear articles which may be fabricated by this process. For the fabrication of such articles, a generally rectilinear assist-plug is commonly preferred. In such cases, the cavity hollowed out of the nose of the plug may be hemispherical or conical, as in the aboveexample, but it is preferable to make it a pyramidal cavity having, as before, a surface; area between 40% and of the area of the bottom of the forming die. Figure D is a container having 0 tapered walls and a depth-to-base diameter ratio of 2; fabrication of this container may be carried out either by use of an assist plug of the type shown in Figure 5 in which hot compressed gas is fed through an assist-plug to blow a bubble of the resin from the bottom of the plug down into the forming die cavity as the plug descends into the cavity or by use of plug with a hollowed cavity in its nose as described in Figure 2. Both methods employ differential air pressure to effect the process of this invention.

While this invention has been illustrated by certain specific examples, it is not limited to these specific'examples. Thus it is obvious that an infinite variety of concave hollow shapes may be fabricated employing the teachings of this invention with respect to a process forpredrawing the portion of the resin on the bottom of the assist-plug by the use of differential air-pressure. Furthermore, as stated hereinabove, while some examples have illustrated an assist-plug having an internal, conical surface hollowed out inside the tapered end of the plug, other generally concave surfaces such as hemispherical, hemiellipsoidal and pyramidal may be employed with equally satisfactory results provided only that the surface areas of these cavities are from 40% to 100% of the surface area of the bottom of the forming die and that ports at the apex of the cavity are provided opening into a region of lower pressure.

In the operation of the vacuum thermoforming process of this invention, it is sometimes desirable, particularly when very thick sheets of a resin of very high melt viscosity are to be formed, to apply a vacuum, instead of atmospheric pressure, to the ports at the apexof the plug-cavity during the descent of the plug into the forming die. In such a case, the vacuum in the assist-plug will, of course, be replaced by atmospheric pressure during the next portion of the forming cycle when the vacuum is applied instead to the surface of the forming die to draw the resin off from the assist-plug.

Where there is any tendency for the hot thermoplastic resin to stick to the assist-plug when vacuum is applied to the forming die surface, it is sometimes advantageous to provide the novel assist-plug with a thin coating (0.1 to 2 mils thick) of polytetrafluoroethylene resin to prevent such sticking. However, if the tendency to stick is only slight, this can usually be overcome by raising the temperature of the assist-plug a few degrees.

In carrying out the process of this invention, it has been observed that a smoother, better-appearing surface can be obtained on the fabricated articles when the surface of the forming die does not have a mirror-smooth finish but rather has been treated by a liquid-honing process to give what is commonly referred to as a satin finish. This honing process employs a slurry in water of glass beads of less than 230 mesh which slurry is impinged on the forming surface by a suitable compressed air gun. The satin finish prevents entrapment of tiny air bubbles between the thermoplastic resin and the walls of the die during the vacuum cycle of the forming process.

While the use of this novel vacuum thermoforming apparatus has been illustrated for sheets of polyethylene resins, it is applicable and advantageous for use with many other types of thermoplastic resin sheets, including sheets of higher density of polyethylene resins, of polymethylmethacrylate resins, nylon resins, polyvinyl chloride resins, cellulose acetate and cellulose butyrate resins, and thermally stable, high molecular weight polyoxymethylene resins of the type described in US. Patent 2,768,994 issued on October 30, 1956 to R. N. MacDonald. The great value of this apparatus is that, with any of these resins, it provides means for obtaining, economically, the required stiffness in the thermoformed article by putting a greater percentage of the thermoplastic resin in the side walls of the shaped article and a lesser percentage of the resin in the bottom wall Where it is least effective in providing stiffness.

There is claimed:

1. In an apparatus, for plug-assist vacuum-thermoforming which comprises a forming die and an assist plug, said forming die having a cavity provided with a number of small ports leading from the concave forming surface to a means for applying a vacuum intermittently, the im provement which comprises an assist plug which is generally convex and tapered, having a horizontal cross-section of a shape similar to the horizontal cross-sectional shape of the aforesaid cavity in the forming die and a taper from 1 to 30 greater than the taper of the walls of the forming die cavity, said assist plug being hollowed out at its smaller, lower end to provide a depression forming an internal recessed surface inside: the nose of the plug, said depression having a small port at the apex which leads to a channel through the plug leading to the top surface of said plug and a surface area between 40% and of the area of the base of the cavity in the aforesaid forming die, said assist-plug being equipped with means for determining and controlling its temperature and means for lowering and raising said plug into and out of the cavity of the forming die.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1 in which the assist-plug has been coated with a layer of polytetrafluoroethylene resin, said layer being from 0.1 to 2 mils thick.

3. An apparatus according to claim 1 in which the forming die cavity has a circular cross-section, and in which the assist-plug has a circular cross-section, and in which the depression hollowed out in the lower, smaller end of the assist-plug forms an internal conical surface.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 23,17l Borkland Nov. 29, 1949 2,007,548 Sampson July 9, 1935 2,081,777 Talaloy May 25, 1937 2,282,423 Kopitke May 12, 1942 2,377,946 Leary June 12, 1945 2,468,697 Wiley Apr. 26, 1949 2,749,572 Nowak June 12, 1956 OTHER REFERENCES Blow Molding Opens Opportunities to Plastics (Bailey), published by Plastics, vol. 2, No. 4, April 1945, pp. 70, 72, 74, 75, 118, 119, 120. 

1. IN AN APPARATUS, FOR PLUG-ASSIST VACUUM-THERMOFORMING WHICH COMPRISES A FORMING DIE AND AN ASSIST PLUG, SAID FORMING DIE HAVING A CAVITY PROVIDED WITH A NUMBER OF SMALL PORTS LEADING FROM THE CONCAVE FORMING SURFACE TO A MEAND OF APPLYING A VACUUM INTERNITTENTLY, THE IMPROVEMENT WHICH COMPROSES AN ASSIST PLUG WHICH IS GENERALLY CONVEX AND TAPERED, HAVING A HORIZONTAL CROSS-SECTION OF A SHARP SIMILAR TO THE HORIZONTAL CROSS-SECTIONAL SHAPE OF THE AFORESAID CAVITY IN THE FORMING DIE AND A TAPER FROM 1* TO 30* GREATER THAN THE TAPER OF THE WALLS OF THE FORMING DIE CAVITY, SAID ASSIST PLUG BEING HALLOWED OUT AT ITS SMALLER, LOWER END PROVIDED A DEPRESSION FORMING AN INTERNAL RECESSED SURFACE INSIDE THE NOSE OF THE PLUG, SAID DEPRESSION HAVING A SMALLER PORT AT THE APEX WHICH LEADS TO A CHANNEL THROUGH THE PLUG LEADING TO THE TOP SURFACE OF SAID PLUG AND A SURFACE AREA BETWEEN 40% AND 100% OF THE AREA OF THE BASE OF THE CAVITY IN THE AFORESAID FORMING DIE, SAID ASSIST-PLUG BEING EQUIPPED WITH MEANS FOR DETERMINING AND CONTROLLING ITS TEMPERATURE AND MEANS FOR LOWERING AND RAISING SAID PLUG INTO A ND OUT OF THE CAVITY OF THE FORMING DIE. 